1. Field
The invention is in the field of the magnetic treatment of water accomplished by orienting permanent magnets which are encased in an aluminum housing around a non-ferrous pipe. The invention further contemplates orienting other magnets, such as face charged ceramic magnets or electromagnets, around a pipe.
2. State of the Art
Improvement of water treatment technology has become one of the leading priorities in our present society. Inadequate water treatment technology has become a major problem in industry, power production, and home water supplies. It is desirable that water treatment systems do not require the use of reagents as part of the treatment process. In the search for such new water treatment methods it was discovered that a magnetic field from 10.sup.2 to 10.sup.3 oersteds is effective in preventing the formation of scales or encrustations in boilers and heating systems. After magnetic treatment, natural water does not, when heated, produce hard scales on the walls of boilers or heating pipes, but rather a loose sludge that settles to the bottom and can be easily removed or flushed without acid treatment.
A large number of papers pertinent to the magnetic treatment of water and how magnetic fields act on water, for what purposes magnetic treatment is effective, and under what conditions magnetic treatment is most effective and efficient, have been published in the Soviet Union during recent decades. Although a large amount of work has been done in this field, the mechanism by which a magnetic field affects the properties of water systems is still unknown. (Because this mechanism is not known, the problem of magnetic treatment of water is approached more on the engineering, empirical and technological level, rather than on a purely scientific basis.)
There continues to be some dispute on whether magnetic treatment is effective or not, however in the Soviet Union the magnetic treatment of water is used extensively with great economic effect. Our current body of knowledge does not resolve how to explain the observed phenomenon correctly. It is not understood whether the treatment phenomenon is due to changes which takes place within the water itself or is due solely to influence on the impurities present in the water. The conclusions drawn by the various authors based on laboratory experimentation are inconclusive. It is generally agreed that a magnetic field reduces the kinetics of crystallization processes and the freedom of movement of charged particles. The limitations of motion of particles in a field results in increases in the number of collisions and in the formation of crystallization centers. Magnetic treatment is effective if the liquid is passed between the poles of a magnet which has a sufficiently strong field and magnetic gradient, providing the temperature of the liquid is not too high. Magnetic treatment of water is widely used in boilers for all purposes and to increase the life of pipes in the oil, coal, and mining industries since it reduces corrosion and deposits of organic and inorganic compounds in the pipes.
The "magnetizations" process has come into widespread use and patents have been issued in most industrially developed countries of the world for various kinds of equipment for magnetic treatment of water. The manufacture of such equipment on a commercial scale has already begun and is currently in operation in the Soviet Union.
There has been a need for such devices suitable to home and small business use manufactured on an economically feasible basis and made available to the public.